Band saws employ a continuous loop blade that is coupled to a pair of pulleys or band wheels. The band wheels are typically mounted in a common plane to a frame, the mounting spaces apart the band wheels and allows the band wheels to rotate about parallel axes. Typically, one of the band wheels is coupled with a motor assembly which drives the rotation of the band wheel and therefore the blade.
Generally, one of the band wheels is enabled to be moved relative to the position of the other band wheel while maintaining the common plane and parallel axes of rotation. This movement capability allows an operator of a band saw to increase and decrease the distance between the band wheels, thereby increasing or decreasing the tension applied to the band saw blade. This is commonly referred to as tensioning the band saw blade.
It is well-known in the art that tensioning of a band saw blade may occur through use of screw-type (threaded) adjustment mechanisms or handwheel-type (rack and pinion) adjustment mechanisms. These mechanisms are often cumbersome and difficult to operate in a working environment. Unfortunately, a typical problem for both of these types of tensioning mechanisms is that their use often results in an over-tightening of the saw blade. This may result in a warping of the saw blade or even the frame to which the band wheels are mounted. Further, over-tightening may cause undue stress on the blade leading to a shorter useful working life or even blade breakage. Such problems may lead to increased costs to the operator and decreased productivity from the band saw.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a mechanism that may help prevent over-tightening and enable an operator to provide an amount of tensioning to a blade through an easy to operate system.